The present invention relates to guidance systems for golf carts in general and in particular to a device for warning the driver of a golf cart upon approach to a restricted area.
The maintenance of a golf course is an expensive, time consuming job which is made more difficult by the damage done by golf carts which have been driven into areas of the golf course where they should not have been.
Several prior art devices have been directed to providing remote controlled golf carts for carrying either the golf equipment or the equipment and the player. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,253 discloses an automatic golf caddie vehicle which can be manually driven to a location and then remotely controlled by the player. Several forms of control devices are disclosed including audio, light and radio.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,333 discloses a remote control wheeled golf club carrier which is guided to travel to such points as the operator desires to hit a golf ball. When the cart reaches the desired position, the cart indicates to the operator how many yards distant it is.
Neither of the above described carts solves the problem of driving on an area of the golf course where such driving should not be done. Both of these carts rely upon the ability of the operator to recognize those areas where the cart should not be driven just as in the case of a manually operated golf cart. The present invention solves this problem by automatically recognizing restricted areas and providing a signal or indication to the operator when approaching such areas. The system according to the present invention can further change the signal to the operator in dependence upon the distance from the restricted area to provide such information to the operator.